We sent out mailers to thousands of homes in the community surrounding the venue where we’re meeting. We invited friends and neighbors and just about anyone who would let us hand them an invitation card. And we prayed.

Saturday night we held our first load-in and tech rehearsal at the Cultural Arts Center at Carlsbad High School. The CAC, as we affectionately call it, is a 400 seat performing arts theater. An incredible venue and local landmark for us to meet in. We were there for 6 hours getting everything dialed in and ready for our inaugural worship experience.

Sunday morning we ran through everything and fine-tuned details and then we opened the doors. A slow and steady stream of people began to arrive. It was definitely exciting. There was an air of expectancy as people made their way to the CAC, checked children into The Kids Station and took their seats in the theater.

It was incredible! There were about 130 adults in the main room and 20 in the kids ministry. As we led worship something beautiful happened, people were singing out and worshiping God together in a way that many churches never see after meeting together for years. It was quite moving. The band did a rocking job and our tech team was spot on…I couldn’t have been prouder of our team.

Our Lead Pastor, Josh Nelson had a great teaching on relationships as we started a series called ‘Mr. & Mrs. Betterhalf.’ The most AMAZING part of the day was this…Josh gave everyone there an opportunity to put their faith in Jesus as Savior…10 people made decisions for Christ!!!!!

It was terrifically energizing for everyone on our team to witness 10 people crossing over from death to life. These moments have eternal significance and are exactly why we are starting this church. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do next.

With Us | Hillsong Live
Our God | Chris Tomlin
Kingdom Come | Elevation Worship

If you’re in the San Diego area we would love to have you join us. We meet at 10:00 AM every Sunday.

I decided to give this book a read because I now have my 4th child going through middle school and I figure I can always do better as a parent. There were some very interesting topics covered. There were also a few opinions expressed by the authors that I didn’t personally agree with.

I enjoyed the informative portions of this book a great deal. Some of the opinions and the less-than-subtle moral agenda didn’t fly with my personal take on things, but I also have to say I can understand why the authors have come to some of their feelings on certain issues concerning middle schoolers.

I particularly found the chapter on Empathy very intriguing. Empathy was defined as the ability to feel someone else’s feelings, but separating them from your own. The authors explored how this has gained cultural awareness because of the current upsurge in bullying. Even with schools attempting to teach empathy, instruction is only a secondary component. Empathy is learned by parents loving and showing a child empathy. It’s not simply gained through cognitive-behavioral education. We can help redirect this in children by modeling empathy. When children of any age are shown empathy, they learn empathy and can then begin to demonstrate empathy to others in their social awareness.

I do part ways with the authors on their position regarding technology and social media. They pretty much purport that children should not have cell phones or access to social media until high school. While I believe in moderation of media consumption, including TV and video games, I don’t lean as far towards limitation as they do (this could be because I’m a bit of a techno-geek and and user of social media.) I do agree there are dangers and that as parents it’s imperitave we’re incredibly involved with our children’s use of technology and their online experience. I don’t necessarily agree that we need to keep our children away from these things for fear that they might encounter something bad.

There was some enlightening information presented on issues of drug abuse, alcohol, sexuality, sexting, cutting, depression and suicide. These issues appear to be far too prevalent in our youth culture and are definitely putting many kids at risk. There were a couple moments where I felt the authors were bordering on being alarmists, but I really appreciated the fact that they really worked hard to encourage parents to engage their kids and be aware of what’s happening in their lives.

Overall, if you’ve got a child in middle school, or soon to be in middle school, this would be a worthwhile read.

You can pick it up on Amazon.com

Publishers Info:
It’s a rough, tough world for middle schoolers today. Yet the decisions they face are pivotal, affecting the whole of life. FROM SANTA TO SEXTING discusses the myriad pressures middle schoolers face and empowers parents to guide and protect their children during these important years.

Not long ago most kids believed in Santa Claus. Now, barely on the cusp of adolescence, they are thrust into an adult world, stripped bare of the protections afforded previous generations. Under greater pressure than ever before from the culture, school, and parental expectations middle schoolers are growing up at warp speed. Their loss of innocence has been profound.

*I was given this book to review by ACU Press/Leafwood Publishers. The opinions in this review are mine alone and are not the opinions of the publisher.

The long story short is that we’re now living in North San Diego County and doing something that I swore I would NEVER, EVER do…we are helping to start a brand new church!

After 14 years out on the open road, we have found welcome roots here in San Diego. We still travel once a month in the ministry that has brought us this far (leading worship and touring as a World Vision Artist), but much more of our focus will be on loving our local community and serving along side the team at The Station Church.

We begin our weekly services on Sunday 2/12/12 and have our Grand Opening Launch on Sunday, February 19th. If you’re in the San Diego area we would love to have you come as our guest!

Our family would really appreciate your prayers as we jump into this new adventure. Here are a few specific ways you can pray:

for…
Our family to keep life balanced and healthy
The lead team at The Station to love people well
The people far from God who we are trying to reach
Continued bookings with our traveling ministry

We are incredibly excited about what God has planned for our family and this new church. The reason we’ve decided to partner with The Station Church is simple…we want to help people connect to the story of Jesus in their lives!

You can find more info about The Station Church here…
www.TheStationChurch.com
www.facebook.com/StationChurch

Thank you for your prayers and continued support of our ministry!

Andy

PS: If there’s a chance that we could come and lead worship or talk about World Vision in your home church or group sometime during 2012, please email me. I’m currently working on our booking schedule for this year and would love to talk with you about the possibility of coming to your city.

I have been quietly affected…possibly deeply affected…by what is happening at Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC over the past few years.

It’s not simply that they’ve become a highly visible mega-church that’s grabbed my attention. It’s the fact that more than 15,000 people have turned to faith in Jesus.

There are some who are critical of what’s happening at Elevation. Maybe a few of their points are valid…but it’s easy to cast judgement from the outside. The hard work is digging in, faithfully serving God and actually reaching real people in this cynical world and culture.

When just one person comes to faith in Jesus I’m moved deeply. When scores of people are responding to the love and hope of Christ…I’m completely undone.

Over the past couple weeks, Elevation Church held what they called Code Orange Revival. Twelve nights of worship and preaching and looking to God to transform hearts. I watched online almost every night. My heart was wrecked on several occasions through the messages and as I watched people declaring their faith in Jesus through baptism.

A few things that I experienced through Code Orange Revival…
My faith was encouraged.
My heart was challenged to know God more.
My eyes were filled with tears of conviction and joy more than once.
Thankfulness that Elevation Church made this available online (for free).
I realized that the best is yet to come!

Did you watch any of the Code Orange Revival online? How did it impact you?
Leave a comment below… 

(Disclaimer: this post is not meant to boast or draw attention to myself. I am posting this for two specific reasons: 1] to possibly be an encouragement for someone else choosing to do a fast, and 2] as a means of honestly processing this for myself so that I’ll remember what the experience was like.)

I started 2012 out with a 21 day fast. A legitimate grown-up 21 day liquid-only fast.

I’d never REALLY fasted before. I’ve done the ‘skip-a-lunch-a-week-fast‘ and the ‘skip-one-meal-a-week-fast‘ and the ‘I’ll-fast-electronics-because-I-don’t-have-the-willpower-to-fast-food-fast‘…but never something quite like this.

I didn’t do this fast for health reasons, it was spiritually motivated for me and I’m fairly certain that’s the only reason I was able to sustain my determination to complete the task. I learned a lot about myself and had moments of spiritual connection and clarity that moved my soul.

I was reminded how much self-discipline can suck.

I never really achieved the sustained mental clarity and burst in energy I hear people talk about. I had only one day like that.

As I broke the fast it was fun to actually eat food again…but I was surprised that I didn’t find the same satisfaction in eating that I did before this fast. I think there is something to still being in a state of mind that what is sustaining me is spiritual.

I didn’t have one specific breakthrough spiritual moment. I had times I felt my soul was connected to God and others. I was kind of frustrated that I wasn’t sensing something greater as the fast went on. These were the times when it was the greatest struggle to not just break the fast.

I’m curious to see how I look back on the fast as time goes on. It was incredibly challenging…but also rewarding. I’m not sure I’ll fast like this again.

Even though I didn’t have some great spiritual encounter…I honestly kind of thought I might…it did reveal many things about myself and for that I’m grateful.

Have you fasted food for a long period of time? What was your experience?
Leave a comment below…

The Boy The Kite and The Wind | Al Andrews
I blogged about this book earlier this year anticipating it’s release. It was cool to finally get my copy and have a chance to give it a read. The story is moving and the illustrations are excellent. I’m really hoping that this book finds a wide audience because the proceeds are going to help those most needy in our world. Find out more about the book and order a copy here.

Start Your Own Coaching Business | Monroe Mann
I found this book to be insightful and interesting.  Motivational Coaching and Speaking are difficult career paths to break into, but Mann gives some helpful direction to the entrepreneur willing to make that leap.  I enjoyed his distinctions between coaching and consulting.  There were also some easy-to-understand business accounting methods introduced that could be quite helpful to the first-time small-business owner.  Overall he does a good job of covering a lot of ground in a short amount of time.  Not a bad read if this is a subject you’re into. Check it out on Amazon.com.

How To Start A Home-Based Consulting Business | Bert Holtje
This book is dually geared towards someone looking to break into the consulting industry and the person utilizing a home-based office for the first time. I appreciated the authors insights on consulting as a career choice. There are many factors to consider. Especially useful was the emphasis placed on writing a business plan. Many books talk about the need to write a solid business plan without giving direction as to how to write said plan, but that was covered in detail within this book. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Start Your Own Consulting Business | Eileen Figure Sandlin
I love the practical way Entrepreneur Magazine presents information. Consulting and Coaching are burgeoning industries in the current economy and they have done a good job of exploring what it takes to start a consulting business. While a great deal of the information is pretty basic for anyone who’s been in business for themselves, I can definitely see how a lot of this could help someone just venturing out on their own. There were some great ‘nuggets’ that I was able to pull from this book.Check it out on Amazon.com.

“We have a lot more stuff than we need.”

Several years ago we stopped buying ‘stuff’ for people at Christmas…and we stopped asking for ‘stuff’. We started doing our Christmas shopping through the World Vision Gift Catalog…and if someone wanted to shop for us, we asked them to do the same.

We decided we wanted our gift giving to matter…to have purpose…to bring hope and joy to our world. Now, I’m not saying we don’t buy gifts for our kids and lean into the magic of Christmas…I love the wonder of Christmas that happens with my kids…but we also wanted to teach our kids that we believe there’s more to the Christmas season than just hustle & bustle and consumerism and want…we get to do more than that.

The World Vision Gift Catalog lets us give a gift in someone’s name that brings life-changing possibilities to those needing it most. We can buy a goat or a chicken to help a family feed and provide for themselves. We can help orphans go to school or pitch-in to help dig a clean water well. There are a lot of creative ways to give and each one makes a powerful impact on someone’s life.

I love it!

So, if you’ve been looking for that perfect, unique gift to give someone this Christmas…check out the World Vision Gift Catalog.

Here’s a fun video that shows how this works.

Do you have any Christmas gift giving traditions?

[HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS | I believe that goodwill and love actually trump consumerism and materialism in the hearts of most people this time of year. Several years ago, my family and I began a tradition in our home of giving away the money that we used to spend every Christmas on gifts. We began investing in gifts that bring hope to the widow and the orphan instead of gifts that would sit on a shelf or hang in a closet. The results have been huge...both for us and the beautiful people who live in places of great need. Our hearts have been moved to give more than gifts...but to give hope for the holidays.]

This weekend I had the privilege of leading at another church plant here in the North San Diego County region. The Mission Community Church has been meeting weekly for about 3 months now and they already have about 150 people attending each week. Not sure how much you know about church planting…but that’s AMAZING!

They meet in an elementary school and the team really works hard to get everything set up quickly for the service. The band did a great job in working out the songs with me and helping to create a worship driven experience. With Christmas a week away, it was a lot of fun to throw a couple traditional-ish Christmas tunes in the set.

I didn’t have time in the service to do my usual presentation about World Vision, but was still able to mention briefly the needs of kids in Africa because of HIV/AIDS. It was great to see 2 kids sponsored this week…an awesome Christmas present for those children.

This was the set I led:

Joy To The World | Andy Allen arrangement
How Great Is Our God | Chris Tomlin
O Come All Ye Faithful |  Andy Allen arrangement
Our God | Chris Tomlin
Forever Reign | One Sonic Society

This was the final service for me in 2011. I’m very excited about spending the next couple weeks hangin’ with my fam. I L.O.V.E. Christmas!!!

What are you doing for Christmas this year?
Leave a comment below… 

Dear Sponsor,
Wishing you peace, love and fun in Christmas and New Year.

So…definitely a good reminder that I have just enough time to send Christmas cards and letters to all our sponsored children. You can too.

If you sponsor a child with World Vision you can send a card or small 6×9 envelope with gifts via air mail to your child. You can also send an email now to your sponsored child in most countries.

When you write, it tells them they are loved and valued.
They don’t always feel that way.
Christmas is a great time to give a little hope.
A quick card or letter really does make a huge impact.

Check out the picture to the right and see the journey your letter takes…

To send an email to your sponsored child, you can CLICK HERE.
If you’re not sure what address to mail a card to, call World Vision at (888) 511-6548 and they’ll help you out.
Don’t sponsor a child yet? You can start today by visiting www.worldvision.org.

[HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS | I believe that goodwill and love actually trump consumerism and materialism in the hearts of most people this time of year. Several years ago, my family and I began a tradition in our home of giving away the money that we used to spend every Christmas on gifts. We began investing in gifts that bring hope to the widow and the orphan instead of gifts that would sit on a shelf or hang in a closet. The results have been huge...both for us and the beautiful people who live in places of great need. Our hearts have been moved to give more than gifts...but to give hope for the holidays.]